Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stated she was unaware her estranged husband, Peter Murrell, was negotiating a guilty plea for embezzling SNP funds until a week before his first public court appearance. Sturgeon revealed in a podcast that Murrell had been in plea negotiations for months, a fact that "hit me like a tonne of bricks."
"He was still lying to me right up until the day he pled guilty," Sturgeon said. She added that Murrell had been isolated and uncommunicative during that period, leading her to worry about his well-being and mental health. "And then, now I think: 'What a mug, why were you worried about him?' He didn't worry about me. He didn't worry at all about what he was doing," she stated.
Sturgeon, who stepped down as first minister in March 2023, was arrested in June 2023 but was later informed she was no longer under investigation. She announced her separation from Murrell last year. Sturgeon also indicated she would not visit her estranged husband in prison and has not spoken to him since he was jailed for embezzling SNP funds. She expressed a lack of understanding regarding his motivations for the embezzlement, stating, "I don't understand why he did it, he had no need to do it, I don't think I will ever understand his motivations."